A very personal and subjective view of Paris life for all of you who are curious of what's going on in France

2O th anniversary of the Prize for the Intelligence of the hand

Fondation Bettencourt Schueller is celebrating 20 years of what could be considered the greatest French award for Artisans, “The Prize for the Intelligence of the hand”. Started by Liliane Bettencourt, it is now run by her daughter Françoise Bettencourt Meyers who, very courageously attended the event with a broken foot! The joy and gratitude of thePrize winners was immense. They are all hard working artists and one of the laureates, Jeremy Maxwell Wintrebert, a glass blower, had applied seven times! His sculpture “”The Beginning: Dark Matter” (2018) was the winning piece.

The other winners of the 2019 edition were IFRAM, the institute for training and research for Metal artisans and Ludwig Vogelgesang, a wood worker, won the Prize Dialogues with André Fontes and Guillaume Lehoux for a a baby cot in walnut with a copper protection against ultrasound transmissions. A beautiful object with a very questionable use which had already been shown at Grand Palais this spring.

Jeremy Maxwell Wintrebert was in tears after having applied seven times to the Prize

There have been 110 laureates in 3 745 applications. The annual awards are of 550 000 € and fifty different categories of arts have been selected. Since 2018, an association of laureates has been created (leslaureats.org) where they all profit from each other’s experience and the award has become a sort of guaranty of genius.

Ifram, which develops the work of metal, won the prize “Parcours”, photo Sophie Zénon

From guitar manufacturer to glass blower or feather maker, from leather furniture designer to wood carver, gilder or printer, ceramist and textile weaver, all manual professions are included in the selection. It is one of the most magical prize giving ceremony one can think of with the Fondation Bleustein Blanchet’s for Vocation.

The laureates and jury members with Françoise Bettencourt Meyers and her husband Jean Pierre in the center, photo Rindoff Petroff

And from 16 October to November 10, and exhibition “L’esprit commence et finit au bout des doigts”, of all the artists who won the prize in the last 20 years, will take place at Palais de Tokyo. Do not miss it!

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“ As some of you already know, I have decided to resume what I was writing for Vogue and Point de Vue some years ago, but this time as a blog. I would like it to be like a morning phone call to my best friend, a very personal and subjective view of Paris life for all of you who are curious of what's going on in France. I now have readers on five continents, from the Philippines to Tokyo, Tasmania, Perth and Sydney. From Bogota to Rio de Janeiro, Mexico to California, New York, Washington and Canada. Morocco, Egypt, Lebanon, Turkey, Moscow, India and most European countries. Thank you ! ”